Grandma's Recipe

So tonight... I am extremely bored and nostalgic . My house smells of tobacco and wood stove which always places me at peace, but tonight it is missing something... I'm currently filling that scent void with Irish soda bread from scratch like Grandma used to make... will post pics and copy of recipe if any are interested.

Alex, I posted this a few weeks ago. Light and airy spoon biscuits I made when I had the house to myself. Looking forward to seeing a picture of your soda bread. The Irish prefer it with loads of raisins. There is a loooooooong story why I no loner eat raisins! PS, the story has to do with roaches!

I haven't made salt rising bread in at least 20 years buddy. If I remember correctly there is baking soda in it. I believe it's less than a teaspoon though so not enough to leaven it's there to change the ph. I'm sure you could use pearl ash instead. I'll dig out the old recipe book today and get it posted for you. I'll also check into the soda/pearl ash thing.

Ok so first and foremost this is a smelly bread to make. Yes its supposed to smell that way. How does it smell you ask? I've been told by folks that can actually smell that it reeks of dirty feet and parmasan cheese. That's what you want....if it doesn't stink you need to start over. So here we go.

Starter 1

1/4c milk2Tablespoons corn meal, must not be degerminated. Home ground is best.1 teaspoon sugar

Starter 2

1c. Hot water 120-130*F1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 teaspoon baking soda you can use pearl ash or lye here but I would decrease it some if you do.1/2 teaspoon sugar1 1/2c all purpose flour

1. To make starter 1 heat milk until its nearly but not quite boiling. Small bubbles will form around the edge of the pan and you might sea but of steam. (This is called scalding the milk)

2. Cool the milk until its lukewarm, then whisk together the milk, corn meal and sugar in a small heatproof container. The container should be large enough for the starter to grow some. Whisking vigorously will prevent lumps.

3. Cover the container with plastic wrapand place it somewhere warm. Between 90 and 105F.

4. Let the starter rest in warm place overnight or for 8-12 hours. It wont expand much but will develop a bubbly foam on its surface. It will smell fermented. If it doesn't bubble at all and doesn't smell your starter has failed, try again, using different cornmeal or try a warmer spot.

5. To make starter 2. Combine the hot waterwith the salt, baking soda, and sugar, stirring to combine. Add the flour, stirring until everything is thoroughly moistened.

6. Stir starter 1 into starter 2

7. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place it back in the warm place used for starter 1. Let rest until very bubbly and double in size.2-4 hours. If its not showing any bubbles after a couple of hourz, move it somewhere warmer. If it still doesn't bubble give it up and start over again.

8. Transfer your bubbly starter to a larger bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer or bread machine bucket.

9. Stir in the soft butter, salt, and flour. Knead until smooth. Dough will be soft and fairly elastic/ stretchy

10. Shape into a log and place it in a lightly greased 8 1/2x4 1/2 loaf pan.

11. Cover pan and place it back in warm spot. Let loaf rise until its crowned about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch over the rim of the pan. This can take as long as 4 hours. Will not form a large domed top it rises mostly straight up with a slight dome.

12. Towards the end of the rise time preheat the oven to 350F.

13. Bake the bead for 35-40 minutes. Or until nicely browned. It will not rise very much that's normal.

14. Remove the bread from the oven. If you have a digital thermometer it should read 190-200F in center of loaf. Wait 5 minutes, turn it out of pan onto rack to cool.